Hold Me in Your Warm Embrace
by animal8
Summary: After a devastating miscarriage, Edward takes care of Bella with the support of his family. One-shot, meant to be light, just a little moment between Edward and Bella.
1. Chapter 1

**Hold Me in Your Warm Embrace**

Edward was at the office when his phone rang. "Hello, Edward Cullen speaking," he answered in his usual professional tone.

"Edward," his mother's voice coming from the other end of the line was enough to make him freeze. She sounded like she had been crying. "You need to come home. It's Bella."

Those last two words were all the motivation he needed. He quickly packed his brief case and grabbed his jacket before hurrying out of his office. "I'm coming," he responded immediately.

"What happened?" He demanded worriedly as soon as he walked through the door into his house. His father was there, as well as the rest of his family it seemed. Carlisle looked up at his son as he entered the room, but no words of explanation came from his mouth.

Edward's heart clenched at the look of devastation on his father's face. "What's going on?" He asked anxiously, glancing between the three men before him. His brother and brother-in-law shared a glance, but no one spoke. "Where's Bella?" Edward whispered, suddenly realising her presence was missing.

"Edward," Carlisle started hesitantly, "Son, Bella has had miscarriage."

Edward stared at his father uncomprehendingly for a moment. But then the words sunk in and his expression morphed into his own devastation as he shakily sat himself in the nearest seat. "Where is she?" He repeated after a pause.

"She's upstairs with mom and the girls," Emmett answered him. His brother watched him with equal mixes of sympathy and sorrow. Bella was like a sister to all of them and another daughter to his own parents.

Edward nodded mechanically, but said nothing. The three others in the room exchanged worried looks at his reaction. "What happened?" He finally asked quietly.

Carlisle continued to explain. "She was out with Alice and Rosalie when she started to bleed," he said gently, "They took her to hospital where she found out she was having a miscarriage."

"Why wasn't I called?" He asked, anger and desperation creeping into his voice. He didn't want to understand what they were telling him. He and Bella had been trying for a baby for so long and they had been so excited when she finally fell pregnant. He swore he had never seen Bella happier than in the moment when they both stood staring at the positive test.

"We tried, son," Carlisle replied, "You weren't at the office and we couldn't get a hold of your cell."

Edward hung his head and closed his eyes in realisation. He had been out at lunch, away from the office. He had wanted to buy something special for Bella, so had taken his lunch hour to visit the nearby Tiffany's store. His phone must have died before he had a chance to charge it.

"I need to see her," he finally spoke, lifting his head to stare at the men in front of him, as if they would deny him this right.

Carlisle nodded understandingly. "Of course, son; you both need to be with each other right now," he said softly, "We'll all be down here if you need anything."

Edward nodded gratefully at his family before he turned from the room and headed to the stairs. It wasn't hard to find Bella. When he got to the top of the stairs, he followed the sound of soothing murmurs to their bedroom door.

Quietly pushing it open, he saw Rose, Alice and Esme huddled around his precious Bella. His heart broke when he saw his love. Her face was blank and her eyes were empty. She looked completely shattered and all he wanted to do was make it better with any means possible.

The three other women looked up as he entered and gave him a sympathetic smile. Bella showed no reaction to his presence, even when they murmured to her that he had arrived. Edward wondered if she could even hear any of them talking to her or if she was just lost in her own world.

Carefully, he walked over to the bed and crouched down in front of her. Her chocolate brown eyes stared off into the distance, not even glancing at him as he gently took both of her hands into his. "I'm here, love," he murmured to her softly, trying to get a reaction.

She blinked, but otherwise remained still and blank. Edward looked desperately to his mother for support. He didn't know what to do, how to help her.

Esme gave her son an encouraging smile and nodded back to her daughter-in-law. Edward frowned at the lack of assistance, but realised he would have to try something on his own. He turned to his sister and asked, "Alice, could you please run a bath for Bella? Make it hot and put some things out for me, please."

Alice nodded and went into the adjoining bathroom while Rosalie stayed sitting with the silent Bella. Esme led her youngest son out into the hall so they could talk in private.

As soon as they were out of earshot, she had her arms around him, bringing him to her chest in a motherly hug. He realised he was shaking and that tears were coming unbidden to his eyes. "I've never seen her like that before," he mumbled. It had terrified him, seeing his love so empty like that. She was always full of life and to see her reduced to the shell of herself was physically painful.

"I know, I know, honey," Esme murmured to him as she rocked him side to side as she had done countless times when he was younger. "It's been a big shock for her and it will take time for her to recover, for both of you to recover. She needs you now, Edward, and you need her."

He nodded into her shoulder. Of course he was going to be there for her, he thought. He would never abandon her, no matter what. Alice came out of their room then and smiled sadly at him as he pulled back from his mother's comforting embrace.

"She's ready for you," Alice said quietly, "We put her in the water."

Edward nodded to his sister. "Thank you, Alice," he murmured softly. She gave him a weak smile and threw her arms around his waist in a tight hug. Edward wrapped his arms around her shoulders in return, but the only thing on his mind was getting back to Bella.

Alice pulled away from her brother and gave him an encouraging smile. "Go on," she made shooing motions to him, gaining a half hearted chuckle from her sibling.

Eager to get back to Bella, Edward passed quickly through their room, glancing at the spot on the bed where the girls had all sat huddled together, and quietly entered their bathroom. Rosalie looked up from where had been sitting beside Bella and gave him a small smile. She didn't say anything as she left the room, but gave his arm a reassuring squeeze as she passed him.

Edward swallowed hard when he saw Bella. She was sitting in the water, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees. She was still staring blankly ahead and neither registered Edward's arrival nor Rosalie's departure.

Slowly, Edward made his way to the bathtub and crouched beside her lost form. "I'm so sorry, love," he whispered. Bella turned her head to face him and he was relieved to finally garner a reaction from her. He carefully stroked her cheek with one hand and then cupped her face gently. "Let me take care of you," he nearly pleaded with her.

Bella blinked and then nodded slowly. Edward smiled at her softly and ran his thumb along her cheekbone soothingly. He moved closer to her and carefully took hold of her shoulders in both hands. "Just lay back, love," he instructed, keeping his voice soft and comforting.

With his hands on her shoulders, he gently lowered her until she was lying flat in the water with her head resting at one end of the tub. He reached out behind him and found the washing cloth that Alice had laid out ready.

He dipped it into the warm water, pleased by the temperature. He hoped the water would help make her feel better. With the cloth in his hand, he reached up and softly began cleaning her face, wiping ever so gently around her features.

She watched him intently as he worked slowly and methodically. Edward stared into her beautiful eyes and was pleased to find her staring back. He cleaned down her neck and over her chest, taking in her beauty as he went. He moved over her stomach lightly and thought mournfully of the child that had been growing in there.

When he dipped the cloth lower, she flinched away and he looked up at her. "I'll be very gently," he promised quietly, "I just want to take care of you." She didn't protest again as he returned the cloth to its position and gently cleaned her between her legs.

He made sure to clean both of her arms before moving onto her legs. Everywhere he went, he moved slowly, caressing and worshipping her body. He was showing her he loved her in every way.

When he was done, she was fully relaxed and the water was beginning to grow cold. But Edward wasn't finished yet. Ever so gently, he lifted her from the water and sat with her half cradled in his lap, ignoring the way the water soaked into his clothes from her damp body. He grabbed the large, fluffy towel, also courtesy of Alice, and carefully wrapped his precious girl in it.

Using the towel, he gently dried every part of her, including her hair, before lifting her into his arms again and carrying her into their room. He laid her on their bed as he searched for something for her to wear. He found an old nightdress that she liked and helped her into it before leaving her side again to change his own clothes.

When he came back, he lay on the bed next to her and pulled her firmly into his arms, burying his face in her damp hair. He held onto her tightly and she buried her own face into his neck. "I'm sorry, Edward," she whimpered.

He pulled back to look into her face. "Shh, it's not your fault, Bella," he murmured, running his hand through her long hair. "We're going to get through this, love," he told her.

Bella nodded into his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "I love you," she whispered to him.

Edward smiled and bent to kiss her mouth lightly, softly. "I love you too, sweetheart," he murmured back. Bella sighed and settled down with her head on his chest, a single tear on her cheek as she drifted into sleep. Edward watched her peaceful face for a while longer before placing a lone kiss into her hair and resting his cheek on the top of her head as he slipped into his own sleep.

Tomorrow, they would deal with what was to come. But for now, they revelled in the comfort of each other, wrapped up safely in the other's arms as they slept in their bed. They were together and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note:<span>

Hey there! This is just a random oneshot that came to me while I was in the bath and I just had to write it ;D. So, what do you guys think? Yay? Nay? Not too sure? Let me know in a review and I'll be super pleased ;D.

For those of you who are reading my other story, 'Gentle Touches', I am working on getting the next chapter ready, so I hope to have it up for the weekend, when it is also my 19th birthday ;D Yay me!

Now, I know this fanfic covers a bit of a sensitive topic and I'm sorry if I offended anyone with this. I know nothing of how it feels to have a miscarriage, so this is just my interpretation. And I know it doesn't always work out well for relationships in the long run, but this story only covers the initial shock of what happened, not the aftermath, and I don't think I have the capabilities as a writer to go past this point. I hope you have enjoyed what I have written, though, and there may be other random oneshots coming out while I write on my main story, 'Gentle Touches'. Feel free to read that as well if you wish.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story ;D.

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


	2. Sorry, AN

Author's Note:

Hey guys, really sorry that this is not a chapter or anything. I don't know how many of you are reading this story, but I sort of have this idea for maybe continuing this and I wanted to know if any of you would be interested in reading it before I went ahead with the writing.

The idea I had for the story was to go on with a bit of the recovery from the miscarraige, but I don't really know how to write that, so I don't think I want to do much. The main thing I wanted to focus on was Bella and Edward finally getting to have a child.

So I would be writing about Bella going through the pregnancy and then the birth and maybe a bit of when the child is growing (maybe). Also, it may not be a continuous story, meaning it may turn out to be just a collection of oneshots following their progress.

I'm telling you these ideas so you can get a good idea of whether you would be interested in reading it. I would love to hear all of your views and any ideas you may have, so please review and let me know what you think of my idea. I need to know if it will be worth writing (especially since I already have one main story that I'm trying to concentrate on ;D).

And because I have that other story to focus on, there will probably not be very regular updates. It will sort of be an as and when I can write something until I have a full chapter to post. There may not be many chapters, either, depending how much I write and how long the chapters are. Longer chapters will take me longer to write as well, so bear that in mind and let me know what you prefer.

Thanks so much for reading! ;D

R~E~V~I~E~W~P~L~E~A~S~E

animal8 xx


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